The Quest for Lord Stanley's Cup

[walkerTranger]

Sorry if I ramble, didn't get in from the game until 3:00am. First, the atmosphere in the building was amazing. It was absolutely crazy from the start of the game right up until the end. I didn't see a single person sit down the whole game (other than the period changes). You couldn't even hear the person next to you speak unless they shouted directly into your ear. Carolina was hitting much harder in this game. You could hear the difference when the Oiler players got checked into the boards. I don't know if they showed any of it on TV but several of them damn near crawled to the bench after a couple of Eric Cole hits. Pronger played his ass off. The guy was all over the ice and did everything he possibly could. Pisani was their best scorer but Pronger left it all out on the ice. Markkanen played a great game but it may not have shown up on TV as well. The 'Canes were all over the goal and he was still able to make some fantastic saves. I too thought it was a good call on the Conn Smythe award but also agree it could have gone to Brind'Amour as well. Living in "ACC Country" I've had opportunities to see some great championship college basketball for several years but nothing could compare to these games. Congratulations to the Edmonton Oilers on a well fought series, you played great! Congratulations to the Carolina Hurricanes, the new Stanley Cup Champions!

 

[Chris F]

Congrats to Carolina. Even though I was pulling for Edmonton, I am not dissapointed at all to see this one go the other way.

I second that....great series and one of the better playoffs in recent history.

 

[Alan]

Looks like Chris Pronger has requested a trade. With 11 free agents on the team, the Oilers look like they have some big problems.

This time it seems like it has nothing to do with money. Pronger cited "personal reasons" for wanting to leave. Earlier this year his wife was quoted in the papers as saying she doesn't like living in Edmonton so my guess his personal reasons have something to do with where his family wants to live.

IF this is true, at least the Oil should be able to get something fairly decent in return but this is a big kick to the gut of the Oiler fans. This actually sucks. Lose in game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals and then barely a week later, the biggest name player who was a huge reason we got to the finals says he wants out because they "don't like living here". That's a pretty big slap in the face and an insult to the fans and citizens of Edmonton.

 

[ID_Disco_II]

Looks like Chris Pronger has requested a trade.

From what I have read, Pronger didn't come out and say it...it just "leaked" out. Kevin Lowe said that Pronger never approached him directly about it. Still, most rumors like this tend to have some truth in them.

Kevin Lowe will no doubt try and talk Pronger out of it. Even though his regular season was subpar, the post-season run more than made up for it: the Smith-Pronger pairing is certainly one of the top pairings in the league. Regardless, Pronger only had one year in EDM after spending numerous seasons in STL: of course that is going to be tough on his family. If I were Lowe, I'd ask Pronger to fully commit to one more season in EDM and then re-evaluate the situation in earnest a year from now.

Anyone catch the Luongo blockbuster?!?!?!
If Vancouver can sign the netminder, they may have just got the steal of the century.

 

[Alan]

From what I have read, Pronger didn't come out and say it...it just "leaked" out. Kevin Lowe said that Pronger never approached him directly about it. Still, most rumors like this tend to have some truth in them.

Kevin Lowe will no doubt try and talk Pronger out of it. Even though his regular season was subpar, the post-season run more than made up for it: the Smith-Pronger pairing is certainly one of the top pairings in the league. Regardless, Pronger only had one year in EDM after spending numerous seasons in STL: of course that is going to be tough on his family. If I were Lowe, I'd ask Pronger to fully commit to one more season in EDM and then re-evaluate the situation in earnest a year from now.

Anyone catch the Luongo blockbuster?!?!?!
If Vancouver can sign the netminder, they may have just got the steal of the century.

Al Strachan "leaked" the Pronger trade rumors but Lowe's comment was just semantics. Pronger's agent was the one who requested a trade. It's now out in the papers here that he/they/his agent wants a trade. I can understand it from a family perspective as he was in St. Louis for a long time however if that's the case, he shouldn't have signed a 5 year deal and this is the nature of the being a pro athlete so it shouldn't come as a surprise. He also had a "no-trade" clause put in his contract too which says to me that his intention was to finish his career with the Oil and at $6.5M USD a year, he's getting paid well.

I actually think it's not so much Chris as it is his family who aren't happy (not pointing fingers but I can see their point) as this must have been a big uprooting for them considering how long they were in St. Louis for. However Chris has partied on Whyte Ave. with fans after some of the games in the Detroit series and by all indications, he's happy. He wanted to play for a Canadian team and be in a more hockey hotbed type of location which he got with the Oil and if he wants to be on a team where the fan support is strong, can't get much better than this. Pronger is citing "personal reasons" and has said these personal problems will go away with a trade hence my reason for thinking that it's not Chris who wants a trade but his family and Chris is doing what he needs to do for his wife and children as I'm sure there's some pressure (ultimatums??) there.

I do think that he should play one more season and let his family experience this city a bit more. I think it's a bit premature to write off a city that quickly. However the flip side to the argument is if he has a bad season, he's not worth as much in a trade whereas right now, being a Conn Smyth candidate his value is high and Lowe can probably swing a pretty good deal with some quality players coming here.

If this happens, then my guess is Peca, Samsonov and possibly Roloson is gone. But most of this is conjecture right now until Pronger makes a statement himself and at the moment he's on holidays so we won't be hearing from him for a while.

 

[ID_Disco_II]

However the flip side to the argument is if he has a bad season, he's not worth as much in a trade whereas right now, being a Conn Smyth candidate his value is high and Lowe can probably swing a pretty good deal with some quality players coming here.

Most GMs would sell their first born to get Pronger in their lineup. He had a down year but you could attribute most of that to being with a new club in new surroundings; no GM is going to de-value him for that. Even another sub-par year wouldn't take much off the asking price. Pronger is in his prime and has plenty of hockey left in him, not to mention his combination of skills/attributes is exceedingly rare.

I don't think for a second that the Oilers should deal Pronger.